308 + LEVERevolution= speed

[Rtheurer]

THESE LOADS ARE SAFE IN MY RIFLE AND MAY NOT BE IN YOURS!!!!!! NO JOKE!!!

Curiosity got the best of me finally and I had to try it. When the two new Hodgdon propellants came out I took a look to see where they fell on the burn rate chart. Interestingly LEVERevolution has a burn rate very close to Varget and I shoot a lot of Varget. To the tune of 16# by the time October is over with. I purchased a pound and wanted to see how it stacked up to my proven Palma Load that will accompany me to Australia for the World Long Range Championships later this year. My standard load is 46.5Gr Varget, CCI BR2 primer, Lapua Brass, Seirra 155 Palma Bullets 2256, loaded .0012 off the lands. And .001 neck tension. Gives me an avg. speed of 2974fps. With no Data available for the 308 Win I started at 44 grains and worked up to 46.4grains. Rifle is a Tube Gun Ellisio RTM, Stiller Predator LONG action, Extreme Trigger, Krieger 30” Heavy Palma, with the Gamboa LARGE neck chamber.
Sometimes I’m a little absent minded and along with the other things I wanted to do at the range I forgot to pack my Telescope in the car. So I had to shoot the groups with my Iron sights on the gun off the bench with a Round For end gun… so when you see the results please take that into account. I wanted to get some sort of base line… is it a waste of time or is it worth another look?
Also the day just happened to be one of the hottest of the year. At the start my Kestrel 3000 showed 98.8* F 42.3% Humidity and a Heat Index of 111.2* F So If I was going to test for pressure today was the day!
Grains Avg. E.S., S.D.
45.1gr 2969fps 30.0fps 10.2fps .550 Center to Center
45.6gr 2986fps 25.0fps 8fps .786”
46.1gr 3008fps 29.0fps 10.8fps 1.053” ( 3 into .160!)
46.4gr 3028fps 18fps 6fps .646” ( 3 into .285)

Again Remember I was shooting an Ellisio Tube gun off the bench without the plate. And I’m not a Bench shooter and with Iron sights to boot. With the right tools I think the groups may be A LOT smaller.
Russ T

 

[Rtheurer]

So the next question is.... Will this powder perform well in the 6BR with 100Gr class bullets? Im betting that 30gr of Leverevolution with a Berger 105 will get you around 3000fps and not have excessive pressure signs.
Or how about the 223 with the 70 to 80 gr bullets?

rt

 

[TheSnake]

Russ,
How do you feel the SD stacks up to the Varget at 46.5? I would have thought the speed increase would have been more. They boast up to 250 fps faster but you only got 54. Interesting.

 

[Rtheurer]

Hi Robert

It falls right in with the Varget Load at 8fps SD. Intresting to see the velocity gain with less case capacity used. I think in certain cases where you are shooting heavy LONG bullets in a small case is where this powder is going to shine. My 6BR has a Freebore of .104 and is a tad to long for the 105GrVLD's but works wonderful with the 105 AMAX and 107 SMK. If I was running a .090 Freebore i Believe the powder column would be less and alow more room for the bullet in the case yet provide the same or more velocity than Varget. Same thing for the 77grain bullets in the 223 at Magazine length. 22BR would be another good aplication. It also meters real well since its so small of a grain.

Im going to try in my 6BR some time in the future to see what comes of that. And if I was a Service Rifle shooter loading 77gr Match Kings at Magazine length and loading ALOT of ammo for that this would be a good choice as well.

RussT

 

[dfry]

Hey Russ, nice info, great, another powder to test. Your thoughts on its application for smaller cases caught my attention. I am shooting a 6WOA and have been trying several different powders lately to try and get a little more velocity over my Varget load. In Remington brass, with 27.1 grs. of Varget behind a 107SMK, and Wolf LR primers I get about 2720 fps. I don't really get anymore with SSA larger capacity cases. I am in the middle of testing AR Comp and 8202. H4895 gets me about the same results. The rifle is a hammer with Varget, but I would like to get to 2750 fps consistently. How do you think the temp. sensitiveness is of LeveRevolution? Here in Phoenix it is a major consideration, Dave